[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 7 (Friday, January 10, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1305-1306]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00186]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XA007]


New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council, NEFMC) 
will hold a three-day meeting to consider actions affecting New England 
fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

DATES: The meeting will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 
January 28, 29, and 30, 2020, beginning at 9 a.m. on January 28 and 
8:30 a.m. on January 29 and 30.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Portsmouth Harbor Events and 
Conference Center, 100 Deer Street at 22

[[Page 1306]]

Portwalk Place, Portsmouth, NH 03801; telephone: (603) 422-6114; online 
at https://www.portsmouthharborevents.com.
    Council address: New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 
Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950; telephone: (978) 465-0492; 
www.nefmc.org.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, 
New England Fishery Management Council; telephone: (978) 465-0492, ext. 
113.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Agenda

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

    After introductions and brief announcements, the meeting will begin 
with reports from the Council Chairman and Executive Director, NMFS's 
Regional Administrator for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries 
Office (GARFO), liaisons from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center 
(NEFSC) and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, staff from the 
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), and 
representatives from NOAA General Counsel, NOAA's Office of Law 
Enforcement, and the U.S. Coast Guard. The Council then will receive 
two updates on offshore energy projects in the Northeast--one from the 
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the other from the Habitat 
Committee. The Council also will receive other habitat updates and 
develop comments on a Great South Channel-related Exempted Fishing 
Permit (EFP) if the notice is available prior to the meeting. Next, 
representatives from the Northeast Regional Ocean Council and the 
Responsible Offshore Development Alliance will provide an overview of 
upcoming work on the Northeast Ocean Data Portal using industry input.
    Following the lunch break, the Council will hear from Dr. Michael 
Rubino, senior advisor for seafood strategy at NOAA Fisheries, about 
his role within the agency, as well as seafood market development 
options. The Council then will view a video highlighting the U.S. 
scallop delegation's June 2019 visit to Hokkaido, Japan to learn about 
seed-sowing practices used in Japanese scallop aquaculture. The 
delegation included representatives from the scallop industry, NMFS, 
academia, and Council staff. Next, the Council will discuss and take 
final action on a Commercial eVTR Omnibus Framework, which was 
developed jointly with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. The 
framework proposes to require that vessel trip reports (VTRs) be 
submitted electronically as eVTRs instead of on paper for all 
commercial species managed by both Councils. Next, the Council will 
receive an overview of new South Atlantic electronic vessel reporting 
requirements for for-hire charter and headboat vessels with South 
Atlantic permits. The Council will close out the day with a report on 
the November 2019 annual meeting of the International Commission for 
the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The Council also will hear 
comments from the Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section to ICCAT.

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

    The Council will begin the day with a presentation from MIT Sea 
Grant on the use of sociocultural information in the NEFMC process and 
discuss recent findings. Next, the Scientific and Statistical Committee 
(SSC) will provide the Council with acceptable biological catch (ABC) 
recommendations for four groundfish stocks that were remanded for 
further review as a result of the Council's December 2019 meeting. The 
ABC recommendations will be for American plaice, Gulf of Maine haddock, 
Georges Bank haddock, and Atlantic pollock for fishing years 2020-22. 
Following the SSC report, members of the public will have the 
opportunity to speak during an open comment period on issues that 
relate to Council business but are not included on the published agenda 
for this meeting. The Council asks the public to limit remarks to 3-5 
minutes. After that, the Groundfish Committee will begin its report, 
which will run for the remainder of the day with a lunch break 
scheduled partway through. The report will cover two items. First, the 
Council will develop recommendations for submission to GARFO on fishing 
year 2020 recreational measures for Gulf of Maine cod and Gulf of Maine 
haddock. Second, the Council will review, discuss, and approve the 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Monitoring Amendment 23 
and select preliminary preferred alternatives. The DEIS will contain 
the full range of alternatives for upcoming public hearings. At the 
conclusion of this discussion, the Council will adjourn for the day.

Thursday, January 30, 2020

    The third day of the meeting will begin with a closed session 
during which the Council will consult on SSC appointments for 2020-22 
and review personnel issues. The meeting then will be open to the 
public and begin with a presentation on the final NEFSC/GARFO Regional 
Strategic Plan for 2020-23, followed by an overview of the accompanying 
annual implementation plan. The Northeast Fisheries Science Center then 
will provide a presentation on its annual planning process and explain 
how the center uses the New England Fishery Management Council's 
research priorities. Next, the Council will receive an update on 
Congressional activities and discuss any pending legislation. The 
Small-Mesh Multispecies (Whiting) Committee report will follow. The 
Council will approve the range of alternatives for an action that is 
under development to rebuild southern red hake.
    Following the lunch break, the Council will discuss Atlantic 
herring issues. The Council will initiate Framework Adjustment 8 to the 
Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan, which will contain fishing 
year 2021-23 specifications and consider adjusting herring measures 
that potentially inhibit the Atlantic mackerel fishery from achieving 
optimum yield. Next, the Council will receive an update from NMFS on 
the Omnibus Industry-Funded Monitoring (IFM) Amendment and its 
associated herring measures. Finally, the Council will close out the 
meeting with ``other business.''
    Although non-emergency issues not contained on this agenda may come 
before the Council for discussion, those issues may not be the subject 
of formal action during this meeting. Council action will be restricted 
to those issues specifically listed in this notice and any issues 
arising after publication of this notice that require emergency action 
under section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act, provided the public has been notified of the Council's 
intent to take final action to address the emergency. The public also 
should be aware that the meeting will be recorded. Consistent with 16 
U.S.C. 1852, a copy of the recording is available upon request.

Special Accommodations

    This meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities. 
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids 
should be directed to Thomas A. Nies (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 days 
prior to the meeting date.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: January 6, 2020.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-00186 Filed 1-9-20; 8:45 am]
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